After a brief account of the history of the European integration process, the two authors of this book describe its three main stages: the customs union, established with the Treaty of Rome; the creation of the Single Market; and the introduction of the Common Market in 1993. The text then examines the complicated events which led to the adoption of the Euro and then the Stability and Development Pact. The book does not only explain events of the past; it also address five challenges that will shape the European Unions future: a common taxation policy; a common agricultural policy aimed at promoting growth; a reform of the labour market; support for the knowledge society; and, finally, an economic development policy capable of safeguarding the environment and enacting a sustainable energy policy. This up-to-date text reviews half a century of the European adventure, and it does so with the autonomous and intellectually unprejudiced outlook of two young scholars who belong to a generation that has always perceived Europe as a firm reference point.

Andrea Mantovani is a researcher in Economic Policy at the University of Bologna and teaches at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

Luigi Marattin enjoys a research scholarship at the University of Bologna and has been visiting researcher at the New School, New York University and Columbia University.